New York Mayor Bill de Blasio decided to take a break from hard work in sunny Italy. Bill de Blasio announced on Friday that he would be leaving for Italy next week for 10 days. This vacation will be the longest in recent years, which was the mayor of the city. Blasio, who has Italian roots, will be joined by his children and wife.

Basilicata is one of those regions of Italy where the foot of a Russian-speaking tourist rarely steps. Largely guilty of its geographical location and lack of information. The Basilicata includes two provinces of Matera and Potenza. They are located between the regions of Puglia and Calabria and, as it were, sandwiched between them. The region is located in the very south of Italy near the Gulf of Taranto (Ionian Coast), and its western part is washed by the Tyrrhenian Sea.

Paolo Costa, the head of the port of Venice, hopes that the city will again become a significant figure in terms of shipping and profit. The authorities in Venice announced the construction of a huge port in the city, despite a recent decree prohibiting cruise liners from entering Venice starting in 2015. Paolo Costa, the mayor of the city in the past and the head of the Venetian port in the present, explained that Venice risks becoming only a monument of architecture, the only source of income for which will remain tourists.

Grappa is the true embodiment of Italian temperament in degrees of fortress. This is an amazing and original alcoholic drink. Being a product made from waste wine, she conquered the world with her taste. Each year, Italy produces about 40 million bottles of grappa, which are distributed in all countries.

Although the best beaches of Sicily (Sicilia) are located in the south and southeast of the island, beach holidays of varying degrees of comfort are possible on almost its entire coast. There are coastal areas where it is difficult to get to the water, there are many unequipped beaches, but in general there are plenty of opportunities to find the beach of your dreams.

In Italy, the number of vegetarians is growing sharply, among which there are those who do not eat all the products obtained from the exploitation or killing of animals. According to official data (provided by the Eurispes research center (www.eurispes.eu), about 4.2 million vegetarians live in the country today, while last year the total number was 3.7 million.

The Tiber (lat. Tiberis; Tevere) is a visiting card of Rome since the time of the Great Empire. A winding pond goes around the famous hills of the Italian capital, lovingly outlining the silhouette of the Trastevere district. The brilliant mirror of the river is everywhere surrounded by monuments of ancient and medieval architecture.

At the San Gusumano restaurant and pizzeria we were offered by our Sicilian friend Mario. Initially, it was planned to show parents the best Sicily pizzeria Calvino, but it was under reconstruction on the dates of our stay. According to Mario, San Gusumano is Calvino's main competitor in the ranking of Trapani residents.

Whatever the reason for a trip to Venice - visiting the La Fenice opera house and then returning to the hotel along the night lights on San Marco - this is an impression for life. If you need someone to pleasantly surprise in Venice (especially with a romantic connotation), then it is impossible to come up with a better way than opera or ballet in La Fenice.

Italy is not a very large country, but the weather in the north and south of the Apennine peninsula can differ very dramatically at the same time of the year. The vagaries of the weather are explained both by the length of the country from North to South, and differences in the relief between the regions. Therefore, it makes sense to prepare for the trip in advance, having studied the conditions in that particular area that you are going to visit.

Tobacco lovers who try to smoke a cigarette on one of the most popular beaches on the Adriatic coast will be fined 50 euros as soon as the new law comes into force. Local authorities in Bibione supported the first ban on smoking on the beach in Italy, which would protect fans of the sun and sunburn from cigarette smoke, as well as protect the environment.

The University of Rome established the true birthplace of Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens was born not in East Africa 200 thousand years ago, as previously assumed, but in the western part of the African continent. In the journal of human genome research, genetic experts Fulvio Cruciani and Rosaria Scozzani have opened new horizons in the area of ​​research that was previously considered to be thoroughly studied.

Twitter of Pope Francis in Latin is gaining more and more popularity: more than 211 thousand people read the Pope’s wise sayings in the so-called “dead language” of the Ancient Roman Empire. His main followers are students. Dead Language "This is the beginning of a new life for a dead language," says the British magazine Times.

Italy's first female astronaut will be the first person to drink "Italian espresso in space." The famous Italian brand Lavazza has developed a coffee machine specifically for the International Space Station. Italy made a special contribution to the study of space at the international level, creating coffee that astronauts could enjoy outside the Earth.